Maurice Peress

Maurice Peress (March 18, 1930 – December 31, 2017) was an American orchestra conductor, educator and author.

After serving as assistant conductor of the

Peress was the author of Dvorak to Duke Ellington: A Conductor Explores America's Music and Its African American Roots, published in 2004 by Oxford University Press.[1] Peress worked with Ellington in revising the ending of Black, Brown and Beige, which he debuted with the American Jazz Orchestra in 1988.^[2] He also worked on the arrangement of Ellington's opera Queenie Pie, that was not completed before Ellington's death.^[3]

Maurice Peress died in Manhattan on December 31, 2017^[4][5] and leaves three children, all in the arts: Lorca Peress, a theatrical director; Paul Peress, a composer and drummer; and Anika Paris (née Peress), a singer/songwriter.

Notes

Further reading

• Peress, Maurice (2004). Dvorak to Duke Ellington. Oxford University Press, USA.
  ISBN 978-0-19-509822-8
  .

• Maurice Peress, Professor, Aaron Copland School of Music.
• Finding aid to the Maurice Peress collection at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.